The Mysteries of Laura Episode 1.16 The Mystery of the Exsanguinated Ex

Buzz, buzz, buzz... a woman's good night sleep is interrupted by a pesky fly whirling around her very fancy bedroom. Annoyed and disoriented, she gets out of bed and whips her book through the air, trying to swat the unwanted houseguest. After missing many times and shattering a lamp, finally - splat - she smashes the bug against the wall. Just as she's about to settle back into bed, a gloved hand grabs her neck from behind and plunges a knife into her throat. Blood sprays across the wall as the woman collapses. Hours later, Laura and Billy meet Reynaldo at the crime scene, where the murder victim is identified as 37-year-old Emma Baker. She was killed between midnight and 2:00 a.m.; no security cameras, no fingerprints and no signs of forced entry mean the killer, who's at least 5'10" based on the angle of the wound, knew Emma. In the other room, Emma's ex-husband, a doctor who found Emma's dead body and chose to call the coroner's office rather than 911, argues with a cop, not understanding why he can't leave the scene. Laura steps in to explain to this condescending jackass, but she's at a loss for words once she realizes that he's her ex-fiance, Andrew Devlin.

At the precinct, Laura questions Andrew, who tries to turn the interrogation into a flirtation. Laura, however, remains strictly business - it's not appropriate to reminisce about old times over his dead ex-wife's body - and asks about Andrew's relationship with Emma. He tells Laura he met his ex-wife 10 years ago, right after he won an award for excellence in cardiothoracic surgery, which made him rich. Nowadays, Andrew only practices his golf swing, not medicine; he doesn't want to waste his talents on "chain-smoking, overeating slobs whose hearts are ticking time bombs." Seems like a charming doctor. After the divorce, Emma left him with a hefty alimony payment, but Andrew's not bitter about it - "Divorce is expensive because it's worth every penny." Laura's confused: If Andrew's so happy to be free of Emma, why was he at her house last night? Andrew explains Emma called him yesterday, asking him to come over. When she didn't answer, he let himself into the house. Man, what is it with ex-husbands not giving their keys back when they leave?? Andrew persists, questioning Laura about the 15 years since they last saw each other, but she's more interested in where he's been in the last 15 hours. He tells her he fell asleep on the couch in his office last night - the cleaning lady can vouch for him. He suggests the police check out an ex-con charity Emma was involved with, Heart of the 'Hood. According to Andrew, Emma "spent a lot of time and money on those thugs." Laura wraps up her questioning just as Jake gives in to his urge to check on Laura and her ex and barges into the conference room. Realizing who Jake is, Andrew introduces himself as Laura's suspect - and ex-fiance - to Laura's boss - and ex-husband. Well, at least that's out of the way.

Back in the office, Jake, who's having a hard time hiding his jealousy, already has Andrew pegged as the number one suspect: he's tall enough, he's a surgeon who's skilled with a knife and he has a motive; but Billy interviews the cleaning lady, and Andrew's alibi checks out. Regardless, Jake wants Laura off the case; it's too personal for her. Jake sends Frankie and Meredith to the ex-con charity, where the head of the organization, Father Tom, greets them with hostility and tells them come back with a warrant. Meredith sees a man she put away for manslaughter, Big Nasty, who now goes by Big Happy. The transformed thug tells the detectives everybody liked Emma, but Tank, another ex-con, threatened her last week, saying: "Gimme the money or you'll be sorry." As soon as Frankie flashes her badge, Tank hurls a bag of flour at Frankie and bolts through the bakery, but Meredith catches up quickly and pins him to the ground. They arrest Tank on suspicion of murder and take him in for questioning, but Tank insists he didn't do anything; he ran out of habit. And he says he only threatened Emma because she broke her promise to pay for new ovens. According to Tank, Emma said someone messed with her money and she was broke. The detectives quickly cross Tank off their list of suspects; he says he was up all night remaking a wedding cake for a bridezilla, and his story checks out. But Emma didn't seem broke, especially since she was receiving money from Andrew. Why would she stiff Heart of the 'Hood on the donation? The detectives check her bank account, and find three checks for 10 grand made out to cash, and another for $250,000 made out to Aura Therapy Institute. That's a lot of money for a "total crock."

Meredith and Frankie check out the Aura Therapy Institute, which looks like "Bollywood threw up all over the Armani store." Swami Sanjay welcomes them with a good Namaste and tells the detectives he loves Emma; she's a "dear client and friend." He even has his own key for house calls. Interesting... He starts rambling about new-age nonsense, and Frankie plays along, but Meredith has no patience for this phony. Speaking in Hindi, she calls him a fraud, a liar and a possible killer, and when he pretends to understand her, she knows she's caught him in a lie. The swami, who is actually Brian from the Bronx, is under arrest. At the precinct, he admits he took a lot of money from Emma, but he earned it - it took him weeks to cleanse her aura of all her fear. Someone was threatening Emma, but who? Brian assumes it was her ex, since Emma always said getting married during a thunderstorm was an omen she'd live to regret. But Brian's not in the clear yet... with no alibi, he'll be stuck in a cell unless they get a better suspect.

Meanwhile, Laura disobeys the captain's orders to stay off the case and proceeds to Andrew's office to continue questioning him. While she waits, she can't help snooping through his stuff and opens a door she thinks is his closet - only to find Andrew naked in his shower. Things are getting steamy! Laura screams and turns away, but Andrew reminds her it's nothing she hasn't seen before. Once he's dressed, he asks Laura to dinner, but Laura changes course to ask about Emma's finances. Andrew paid Emma $100,000 a month in alimony until such time she remarried... which she wouldn't, since she was earning seven figures a year to be single. As for her estate, whatever's left goes to charity. Andrew doesn't know anything about her cash withdrawals or why she was short on money. He admits they were never really close, not like he and Laura were.

Later that night, Laura changes her mind about the dinner invite, and Andrew picks her up from the precinct. While Laura grabs her coat, Jake approaches Andrew, who makes sure the captain knows the reason he's here is strictly social. He's trying to push Jake's buttons, and it's working. Jake tries to stop Laura from going out with Andrew - he's protecting her, he says, like he would any of his detectives - but Laura reminds him she's off duty and it's none of his business. Besides, they're at a dead end in the case, and they need a new lead. Andrew wants to whisk Laura off to some fancy-shmancy restaurant, but she has something better in mind: Calligan's Bar. Andrew is disgusted by the greasy food at first, but he and Laura find themselves reconnecting over the bar food they both used to love. They recall the engagement that once was and how it all fell apart: after Laura's father was indicted for embezzlement, her whole world collapsed. She needed space and ran off to California for six months. While she was away, Andrew found company and comfort with an aerobics instructor. They were both young and stupid. Andrew tries to rekindle the flame, but Laura breaks the news that she has a boyfriend. Oh yeah, Tony. Before things can get carried away, Laura brings up the case. Was anyone blackmailing Emma? Andrew balks, but then remembers her Pilates instructor had a key to the house. First Andrew had a key, then Emma's swami had a key and now this guy, too? Why did half the Upper East Side have a key to Emma's house?

The next day Laura arrives to work refreshed; she has a new lead. Emma's Pilates instructor, Richard Preston's credit report shows three bankruptcies, and the DMV says he's six feet tall. Before she can continue, Laura meets Connie Baker, Emma's sister from Las Vegas, who shuts down Laura's theory. She says Richard is their cousin; he's a terrible Pilates instructor, but he wouldn't hurt a fly. Connie does, however, tell them to look into Andrew Devlin. According to Connie, Emma said if anything ever happened to her, Connie needed to tell the police Andrew killed her. Connie admits she's never liked Andrew; he always had a temper, but he kept it controlled. But, Connie tells them, it started getting out of control, and he smashed a bottle because Emma served the wrong kind of wine. That's when Emma filed for divorce. Connie says the last time she saw Emma was New Year's, when Emma flew out to Vegas to visit her. Emma was paranoid, thinking Andrew was following her; he was furious he had to pay Emma 25% of his earnings. But now that she's dead - no more alimony. Connie's convinced Andrew's alibi is covering for him, considering he's a manipulative control freak. She mentions she watched Iron Man 3 on the flight and compares Andrew to Tony Stark's evil twin: filthy rich and uses his money to crush people.

Laura doesn't buy it, though. She's certain the violent, abusive control freak Connie described isn't the man Laura knows. Jake is sure Andrew is a sociopath, messing with Laura's emotions to get what he wants. Maybe the cleaning lady is lying for Andrew? Laura wants to find out, but Jake demands she goes home. Not one to follow Jake's orders, Laura meets with the cleaning lady, Olga, for a second interview. Olga confirms she saw Andrew - the kindest man she knows - sleeping on the office couch the night of the murder. The kindest man? That's pushing it a little bit. But Olga stands by what she's said. The doctor is a good man who's going to do Olga's father's coronary bypass for free. Olga shows Laura a picture of her father, a very overweight man. Didn't Andrew mention not wasting his talents on overeating slobs? Uh oh, Olga is covering for Andrew. Laura calls Andrew back to the precinct, and he confesses he bribed Olga to lie. But he was in his office that night, and he wasn't alone. Ashamed, Andrew admits he was getting a massage... that ended happily. Classy. Laura's disgusted, but she gets the number of the massage parlor and prepares to check out Andrew's real alibi - until Jake stops her. How many times does he have to tell her to stay off this case? She's not sure if it's her ex or the boss speaking, but this time he means it: Back off.

Meredith and Frankie arrive at the spa, where they meet Kelly, the masseuse with the "dragon hand." She tells the detectives she's worked on Andrew twice, once at his office and once on his boat. Andrew never mentioned a boat. Back at the precinct, Laura sits with Andrew in the interrogation room - a familiar setting for them by now. Andrew confirms he has a boat, a detail he thought was irrelevant. But now Laura doesn't trust him, so an argument about their past ensues, with Andrew asserting he's not lying. She knows him - and she knows he didn't commit murder! Watching through the one-way glass, a fuming Jake wants to pull Laura out, but Billy convinces him to stand down. The only reason Andrew is talking is so that he can spend time with Laura. And if anyone can get to the bottom of what happened, she can. Capitulating, Jake orders Billy to send Frankie and Meredith to the marina to search Andrew's boat. The marina security guard mentions they're not the first ladies to visit Andrew's boat. Not only did Kelly pay frequent visits, but there was a tall blonde "with a serious pair of U-boats." The detectives find the boat fully stocked for a long voyage with a course plotted for Cuba. That's when Frankie finds a bloody filet knife, which Reynaldo confirms is the murder weapon, even if there are no fingerprints on it.

Jake wants to arrest Andrew, and Andrew insists he's being framed. Laura's skeptical, but she still goes for Andrew's jugular - he did it! Desperate to convince Laura of his innocence, Andrew tries to kiss her, explaining the only reason he's in this mess is that he married the wrong woman. Pulling out her handcuffs, Laura says, "The thunderstorm on your wedding day should've been the tip-off." Confused, Andrew tells her he got married in South Beach - it was sunny! The light bulb in Laura's head comes on - Emma got married again and kept it secret from Andrew. And the person who knew is her killer!

It's not long before Laura has arranged to see off all Emma's worldly possessions and donate the proceeds to Father Tom. Emma's sister Connie walks into this circus and melts down. All this stuff belongs to her! Laura clears the room, then tells Connie that at least she has her memories of her sister to comfort her... like New Year's, when Emma married hotel bartender Clay Carruthers. There was a rare thunderstorm in Vegas that night, when Connie signed the marriage certificate as a witness. Even though Emma had the marriage annulled the next day, it still would have voided her divorce settlement. Not only did Connie blackmail her sister, but when Emma ran out of money, she killed her. Laura's got Connie on a westbound flight to Vegas after the murder and a witness who saw her enter the yacht to plant the murder weapon.

After Connie is led away in cuffs, Billy asks Jake if he's going to apologize to Laura. He's not - but he'll admit he kinda wanted Andrew to be guilty. Why did Laura almost marry that jerk? That night, Andrew rings Laura's doorbell. Surprisingly, he finds her home, a train wreck topped with a bloody nose courtesy of the twins, full of life - like the home he once thought they'd share. Laura's skeptical, but Andrew seems genuine when he says that the last few days have convinced him to make some life changes, like going back to being a doctor. Andrew moves in for one last heartfelt kiss before hitting the road.